I caught this old black and white classic the other day, burned out from hours researching the new Lara Croft movie. I was in a rather bleak mood, since hearing the passing's of Katharine Hepburn and Buddy Hackett. So I walked away from my computer, popped open a beer, and flipped through the cable channels for something appropriate to watch ... The Last Man on Earth , starring Vincent Price ... this sounded promising. I am not particular to older films void of color, but on this late afternoon I needed something gloomier than I felt.

The Last Man on Earth (or L'Ultimo uomo della Terra) is a low-budget, Italian adaptation of the horror/sci-fi novel, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. The same story was retold into one of my all-time favs, The Omega Man featuring Charlton Heston. While both films are adapted from the same classic novel, each has it's own flavor and stand firmly on it's own. Now that I have seen them both, I am itching to get my hands on the novel.

Both films start off very much the same way ... a man alone in a large, desolate city seemingly void of any life, specifically Los Angeles. However, in The Last Man on Earth, Dr. Robert Morgan (Neville in the novel and The Omega Man ) wakes up in his garlic and mirror covered home, as he has each morning these past 3 years. The character's thoughts are narrated to us as he putters around his house. As he leaves to stock up more supplies, we see dead bodies strewn around his front yard. From here, we witness the rest of his day, as he loads the dead into his car, drives to a large burning pit, and dumps them off. He proceeds into downtown, notes more bodies laid across the road, and checks off to narrow down the last hiding spots of ghoulish humanity. With each one that he finds sleeping in the shadows of the empty buildings of L.A., he promptly drives a wooden stake into their chest.

It is at this moment, we realize Robert isn't exactly alone ... he shares the world with vampires. We don't quite understand how and why, but it becomes vaguely obvious, just the same. It isn't until nightfall that we see them, and these aren't your typical breed of vampires. They are slow, shuffling ghouls which look more like The Night of the Living Dead . I guess it isn't any surprise that it was this story that inspired George Romero's classic.

The Omega Man differs a bit at this point. Rather than slow-moving zombie-like vampires, Robert is tortured each night by a band of black-hooded robes. Not the undead, per say, but deceased, white-haired, sunglass-sporting people who also despise sunlight. These survivors of mankind have formed themselves into a twisted religious cult, bent on destroying everything left that corrupted humanity into an apocalyptic war. Usually, this would be restricted to mankind's technological advancements. But now they have one untouched by the "biological" warfare that emptied the planet ... Robert Neville. "The Family" as they refer to themselves, are obsessed with killing this last human ... their last reminder of the past.

The Last Man on Earth stays closer to the novel, as the vampire ghouls pound away at Robert's home, every night Robert can hear his name moaned by the leader. The leader is his neighbor, best friend and fellow scientist, as we are told in a lengthy flashback to understand the events that led to this mess. It is tragic and full of sorrow, but finally brings the audience up-to-date on how this all happened. While The Omega Man doesn't use the "vampire" strain, both films begin to merge once again as the story takes us to another day in the life of Robert.

On this day, Robert discovers there is another like him, untouched by the disease. But before the story deals with twist, The Last Man on Earth has Robert finding a black shaggy dog. These scenes are both touching and tragic, and continue the unique style of this adaptation. You share the weariness that Robert feels. The remainder of the film uncovers a splinter group of these vampires that have kept the disease at bay. However, since they have not yet become walking ghouls, they fear Robert more as his reputation for his day-hunting has grown over the years.

While The Omega Man combines both foes into one, the final confrontation and moralistic ending remain the same. Both finales are a bit over-the-top, but they drive the point home, nevertheless.

The Omega Man was directed by Boris Sagal (father of actress Katey Sagal from Married without Children, and the new ABC sitcom, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter):

• Robert Neville, the legendary last man - Charlton Heston (John Carpenter'sIn the Mouth of Madness, narrated Armageddon, had a nifty cameo in the retold 2001 Planet of the Apes film)
• Matthias, leader of "The Family" - veteran character actor, Anthony Zerbe (Star Trek: Insurrection, The Matrix Reloaded)
• Zachary, scariest member of "The Family" - Lincoln Kilpatrick (Soylent Green, Fortress, and Roger Corman's Piranha)
• Lisa, Robert's new love interest trying to escape "The Family" - the late Rosalind Cash (Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, and ironically enough appears with Vincent Price in The Offspring)
• Richie, Lisa's younger brother - producer, director and actor Eric Laneuville (Quantum Leap and M.A.N.T.I.S)
• Dutch, leader of the younger ones hiding out from "The Family" - veteran actor of a slew of great westerns, Paul Koslo (Project: Shadowchaser)
• Tommy, one of the children - Brian Tochi (featured in both the original Star Trek series and Next Generation)

Unlike The Omega Man, which actually used Los Angeles to film it's scenes, The Last Man on Earth is filmed in Rome, Italy. The cast and crew are Italian, and typical of these "spaghetti" films of old, the actors speak the dialog in English, but voiced over anyway. All the performances are done well, but this movie is all Vincent Price.

I Am legend was written in 1954 as a post-apocalyptic nightmare set for 1976. The Last Man on Earth was released in 1964. It's been more than 20 years since it was retold in 1971 with The Omega Man . This is one of those stories that could be adapted again. Until then, if you haven't seen The Omega Man or The Last Man on Earth, or read the classic novel, I Am Legend , from Richard Matheson ... please give them a try.